Mike Duffy, back in pre-Senatorial days, but already feeling the heat. Below: A more recent shot of Senator Duffy; former prime ministerial chief of staff Nigel Wright. How could the handoff of a $90,000 cheque to Senator Mike Duffy by the prime minister’s chief of staff not be worthy of
Continue readingTag: Senate of Canada
Babel-on-the-Bay: Hair today, gone tomorrow.
It seems the Hair is out of step with Canadians. He is constantly rebuked by the Supreme Court, abused by his friends in the Senate, let down by his caucus, betrayed by underlings and his cabinet might all be vying for his job. As he said at Jim Flaherty’s funeral,
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Payment of $45,000 travel bill by Alberta Premier raises as many questions as it answers
There will be no more scenes like this aboard Government of Alberta aircraft, thank you very much! Actual Alberta cabinet ministers and cabin crew may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: a screenshot of Alberta Premier Alison Redford’s news conference yesterday. Fresh from her public relations triumph in Edmonton’s Churchill
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Duffy’s Shadow Looms Over Harper’s Future
We won’t have long to wait for the release of the tell-all book on Mike Duffy, penned by his old journalism colleague, Dan Leger. The book, Duffy: Stardom to Senate to Scandal, is said to revisit the good old days when Leger met Duffy in Ottawa (1984-1990) and traces Duffy’s
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: It’s Not the Senate, But Close
Disgraced, ex-Tory senator Patrick Brazeau has found work apparently almost in the shadow of Parliament Hill. Brazeau is the new day manager at the Bare Fax Gentlemen’s Club. A visitor from Lanham, U.S.A. left this review on Yelp: Coming from the US for a business trip in Ottawa. I have
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Five ways to save the Senate of Canada
Tweet Is the Senate of Canada broken? And if so, is it worth saving? Here are the positions held by Canada’s federal political parties: 1) Abolish the Senate The New Democratic Party of Canada, the official opposition since 2011, are staunchly in favour of entirely abolishing the Senate of Canada.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Stephen Harper to Canada: ‘It’s not my fault! Now shut up and vote for me’
Trying to change the channel: Unfortunately for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the remote seems to have disappeared under a pillow and the movie stuck on the TV screen stars Mike Duffy, shown above moving toward the Telus Convention Centre in Calgary Friday night. Actual Canadian Senators may not appear exactly
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Settling the Senate problem is only a start.
Reading the rambling discourses of the pundits, you would think that the current outcry against the Senate is easy to solve by simply abolishing the place. If it was that simple, we would have been quit of the foolish waste of money in the last century. What all these pundits
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The delayed masquerade of the Tories.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been saved by the rain on the plain. With Calgary recovering from serious flood conditions, it is no time for a Conservative Convention. Stephen Harper must think that God is smiling on him. If he had his way, the convention would never happen. He does
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Journalists found guilty of ethical breaches really shouldn’t lecture on journalistic ethics
People who live in glass houses next door to used car lots shouldn’t … Below: Globe and Mail columnist Margaret Wente, the Globe’s disclaimer. S’cuse me! We ex-journalists are permitted to do whatever we like! And if Prime Minister Thomas Mulcair wants to appoint me to the Senate, I’m taking
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Pack the Senate with cheats, then call for reform, then take off for Peru? Good plan!
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, not pictured because he’s pretty well disappeared, has heeded the touristic lure South America, illustrated above. Below: Canadian Parliamentarian Joan Crockatt and U.S. Representative Davy Crockett. Note to Globe and Mail: There is a difference! Below them: Allaudin Merali. Prime Minister Stephen Harper was apparently grinding
Continue readingAlberta Diary: (Prime) ministerial responsibility and all that … surely the wrong man has quit!
The home of Canada’s Parliament, held in contempt by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Reform Party, doing business under the name of the Conservative Party of Canada. Below: former chief of staff Nigel Wright, Mr. Harper and Senator Mike Duffy. Surely the wrong man has quit! Nigel Wright, Prime
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: This morning I saw a few minutes of a CBC Newsworld political…
This morning I saw a few minutes of a CBC Newsworld political panel and again concluded that Canada must abolish its senate immediately. Abolish it now! There is no time for messing about. The dishonourable, fraud-committing senate serves no legitimate purpose in this day and age, and it’s debatable whether
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Is Duffy Toast?
This story has been kicking around for a few days. Former CTV News Conservative party apologist turned Harper senator, Mike Duffy, seems to be in a great deal of hot water. I’ve known Duffy since the early 70’s and I always knew him to be a full-time Ottawa guy. He
Continue readingCanadian Progressive: Conservative Senator Mike Duffy’s $33,000 allowance is daylight robbery
Senator Mike Duffy has reportedly claimed more than $33,000 in “living allowances intended to defray senators’ costs of maintaining a second home in the National Capital Region”. The trouble is: the Conservative senator and Harper appointee has been an Ottawa resident since the 1970s. He has a home in Kanata, a
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